Right down the bottom of Louisiana, where the road for vehicles ends, close to the gulf, is a town known as Venice, along the man-made embankment. No prizes for guessing how it got that name. The Mighty Mississippi River empties out this way and that from there. I'm thinking of heading down there for a look see. It might be a wasteland due to hurricanes over the years. It might be an oasis of calm, all bayou, fishing boats and alligators, no camping allowed, I'm sure.
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I have left sunny and humid Mississippi & low grey cloud covered Louisiana and have entered Texas. I spent a fair bit of yesterday riding past bayou, swamp and paddock, over hill and dale. Now I've got vast views, flat and windy, barren of large stands of forest, but for the occasional copse of trees. I wonder what it was like for early westward travellers on horses or wagons, to slowly see the change in landscape over the days and weeks, what we now see measured in mere hours?!

The north wind pressed so hard against the motorbike it dropped considerable fuel mileage, I gained a few new aches from the forced riding position, and so, got a cheap room a couple of hours beyond Houston. The large, slow cockroach I crushed with my boot at the doorstep was not a good indicator of the cleanliness of the place, which is under renovation, hence: cheap room. The Mexican restaurant across the busy road proved satisfying. The bed provided a comfortable and quiet place to rest. A freight train rumbles through this small cowtown every couple of hours, but I managed six hours straight sleep, custom molded earplugs crammed in.

It's still early, dark, and I'm planning the route (with an actual fold-out paper map provided by the caretaker at a wonderful Texas welcome centre) to Alpine and Marfa, two towns along the way to and from Big Bend National Park. The weather, save the intense wind, is otherwise pleasant, sunny all round, but a bit of a cool spell for Texas at this time of year. 

Texas is listed at 855 miles across if measured from Orange/Beaumont in the east to El Paso in the west on I-10. My route across is more meandering and thus considerably longer and more interesting in this vast and varied US state - which is nearly 1/3 (QLD 2.6 x TX ) the size of Australia's Queensland state, BTW. I expect to be here for three days.

TWB,
Not knowing your route but, if your going near San Antonio just west of it is an area I believe called the twisted sisters. Routes 336, 337, and 338 if my memory serves me right. Rode through there back in early June and was a nice place to spend a day. Remember having a nice breakfast in one of the little towns but can't remember any names (town or café). We didn't go all the way down to Big Bend perhaps you will post some pictures to make me regret that choice.

I take it you bagged the idea of riding down to Venice. I had thought about it as well but it is a long ride to the end (and back out). We chose to go to Grand Isle and for me it was well worth the ride. I really enjoyed  riding through the vast marsh land.

Thanks again for taking the time.

New Orleans was a mess of traffic - major sporting event - so I avoided it, that and it was ugly grey weather in the morning. My cousin turned me off it, saying it's been rebuilt a bit but shows the scars from Katrina, still, from back in 2005.

I can clearly see, northwest of San Antonio, state highway 337 from Medina in Bandera county through to Vanderpool and Leakey, ending in Camp Wood in Real county. 

All of those small towns are just north of Uvalde, scene of that recent (May, '22) dreadful school shooting. They do get lost in the news cycle/media shuffle/political avoidance/inuring process we get put through.

I don't see the other routes listed in that region. It's a bit north of my target (pardon the unpleasant pun) for today but, maybe!

Sitting in an early morning café, hoped for a quick getaway, but waiting for last night's restaurant to reopen as they didn't give my debit card back - no evidence of use as yet. If it's not there then my credit union gets a call first, and the credit card gets a workout 'til I'm home.

Time and its availability to me these days, is being put to good use.

The cook answered the phone an hour before their scheduled opening time.

"I don't know what happens up front, I'm in the kitchen. Oh, wait, my mama, the owner, is driving up now." The phone line went dead.

A minute later a young man and elderly woman appeared at the front door holding up a blue debit card, and handed it to me, her saying, "They found it on the floor near the register. So sorry." I thanked them and got on the road, a bit later than planned.

The rolling hills of central Texas, and stands of scrub oak go on mile after mile, interspersed with small towns and small farms. Some of it's very pretty, quaint, and some is grotty and cluttered.

I've stopped for lunch and a 200-mile arse break in Hondo. It's the usual fast food culprits, only one or two local takeaway joints seem to carry on a hardscrabble existence on the fringes of the town, amidst the big name poison food providers, but I don't wish to eat 'Mexican' for another meal.

On the way to Del Rio this arvo, I'll pass through Uvalde, site of that terrible school shooting a year ago, where local cops stood around the halls for an hour, guns drawn, while a 19 year old former student took 19 lives and injured 17 more, until a Border Patrol tactical team took him out. Truly sad all around.

It's sunny still, not hot, but that north wind! I'm off fast-moving I-10 now. A welcome relief.

Passing through San Antonio, I followed signs for the Alamo, curious about the venerated landmark, on this side of the border, at least. I ended up downtown, a lively city full of colourful buildings, statues, shoppers, galleries, art displays & churches. The architecture is subdued southwest, reminiscent of Albuquerque to me, a place I spent five years in during the late '90s.

I followed my GPS but never found the actual place. I didn't wish to disturb the homeless sitting on the ground by bus stops or city parks, by asking for directions. I just rode round and round in three or four one-way city blocks for a fair while. I moved on, imagining it's just a pile of mud bricks by now anyway, and left the city disappointed. 

Two Wheels Better wrote:A freight train rumbles through this small cowtown every couple of hours,

I clearly remember the first time that happened to me. It was a small mining town in Kentucky (not much bigger than a UK village) and I hadn't clocked the railway line through the centre of town. Until, that is, a CSX line loco let fly with the horn barely 100 metres away. Jump? You may ask 'how high?'. How the feck anyone slept through that I have no idea!

Edit: found it. A place called Shelbyiana. Seems it has a CSX transportation (coal!) hub in it which I didn't know about at the time.

The sun's just probing the eastern sky in Del Rio, Texas, a busy border town. I camped on a piece of grass on a dry river bed, not terribly close to the Rio Grande. I heard rustling in the bushes and did not sleep well. I'll make no conclusions about their origins, but my motorbike, water and food are intact. In about three hours time I'll be entering Big Bend NP, a place I've not been to in over three decades. But first, suitably fortified with a cuppa hot, black and strong, I'm packed and ready to roll.
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Yesterday arvo on state highway 90, looking for shade in all the wrong places. 

A trip through Big Bend NP is well worth the effort.


But first, a quick stop at "legendary" Buc-ee's for food, a feed and fuel. When riding in the south, one will see this place at highway exits. Apparently, it's all the rage. Not just a fuel stop. "100 pumps to fill from", etc, etc. My first encounter was a packed car park, no access to a single pump with vehicles queueing out onto the service road. Stuff that, I went back under the highway to the ordinary looking truckstop, got fuel cheaper and didn't have to wait. My second encounter was even more memorable. Highway 90 in Texas.

Langtry, home of Judge Roy Bean, "Law West of the Pecos."
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I'm heading into New Mexico this morning, by way of Carlsbad, then through Roswell. Taco Tuesday is tonight in Rio Rancho with oldmates from my Albuquerque daze.

Enjoy them tacos TWB!  Really enjoying your ride so far, thanks for sharing with us.

No chance you stopped and took a poke in Carlsbad Caverns? I've seen the pics - pretty spectacular.

Dai, I've been to the caverns several times, but not since the late '90s. Perhaps there are more tourists, and certainly more bat quano has accumulated. I do recommend a visit.

I have made the 413 mile run from dusty Pecos Texas to dusty Corrales New Mexico. I'm sipping a well-deserved coldie in a local hole not far from my mate's place, he who is driving back from Denver where he took in a Peter Gabriel show.

The scenery was spectacular. It is good, very good, to be back in The Land of Enchantment.

Piccies later when my phone behaves itself.

Yesterday's meandering travels.

The centre of New Mexico gives its best 'big sky' view.

...and...

...this...
I visited this place several times in the '90s. It is open to the public 1 April and 1 October. I've described it in other posts. It's perhaps macabre to visit the site as a tourist, but I'm ever curious about why we do the things we do to one another and to the planet we inhabit.

Smokey was found as a cub after a wildfire had likely taken his mother. He's been turned into a familiar symbol for American schoolchildren, and adults, too.

Zero visible water flow...

In the Rio Grande this year.

This little hairy, brown fella was minding his business, ambling across the remote two-laner, with the occasional car potentially gunna crush him and not know it. I stopped and with the tip of my riding boot, gave him a lift to the safety of the grass. He didn't seem to mind, he clung on. The curl in my boot is not an attack by him, but simply an old comforable pair of Gaerne boots I just can't retire. They still do not leak, and are treated with Nikwax after each wet ride.

I enjoy stopping to read and ponder roadside signs.


In Socorro, NM, I found one of my travel tenets, and that is all I need from a ride. 

Now it's time to hang with friends, eat incredible, local New Mexican style food, drink some locally made suds and nectar, give the bike a new rear sneaker, and a twice over, sleep in an actual bed, then move on to Phoenix, Arizona after a while.

What's better'n a new set of rubber, bought cheaper than a pair of gangsta Niké?

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The rear Pirelli Rosso III was squared off, left side camber wear from crowned roads across Texas and New Mexico. It wouldn't take me home to the Pacific Northwet, the approx 2,000 more miles I have to go. I rang around Albuquerque for a rear. Some kid at a multiline shop said he had a 'closeout' Michelin for $100.99. I was impressed so I told him I'd be over soon. He took my name down.

The front has about 1,200 or 1,500 miles left, easily, but why not enquire since the rear was extraordinarily inexpensive. I turn up, ask about the front, figuring he'd tell me $175 or $200. But no. It's $99.00 and closeout, too. I subtly check the build date of each tire...early 2023. These are so fresh I only have to add sauce to eat them. I pay him $209.17 all up, and out the door I go.

Perhaps he mucked up, but his boss seemed to be hovering in the background. I dunno. They're on now, perfectly balanced using mate Tom's NoMar machine and Marc Parnes balancer.

Perhaps there's a hint of guilt. Nuh. Not really. 

I look forward to searching out every twisty road from New Mexico, thru Arizona and California, up into Oregon then rolling home to Washington state.

Blessed be.

TWB,
Ah, the ups and downs of being out on the road! Just the other day dealing with the missed placed plastic and now set up riding on fresh meat!
I'm still pissed that I have to go to work.

caveman wrote:TWB,
Ah, the ups and downs of being out on the road! Just the other day dealing with the misplaced plastic and now set up riding on fresh meat!
I'm still pissed that I have to go to work.

From Dire Straits...
"Well it's a strange old game, you learn it slow
One step forward and it's back to go
You're standing on the throttle
You're standing on the brakes
In the groove 'til you make a mistake
Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug..."

Expanding on the theme of ups and downs whilst travelling, somewhere in Texas, the unprotected headlight took a rock to the main lens. It's not penetrated, but is shattered. Does BMW sell the lens separately? F*ck no! Does it fit anything else? Not a chance. Not even the K1300R which was never officially imported to the US of A. Oh, and they sell for well north of $500.

What to do? Last year, I was eyeballing on eBay a Chinese knock-off, but an LED version - in black, continuing a colour theme. I gave up on the idea then because the original dual H7s are quite functional. The LED versions were selling for between $125 & $190. Once I spotted the crack, I began to watch these lamps again. One seller had them for about $100, but overnight dropped it to $88. I ordered it this morning, and it will be waiting when I return to the Pacific Northwet.

In the past I've covered the lens with a plastic protector or that slick, stick-on 3M pliable, clear rubber that doesn't dim the output.

TWB,
Don't want to get in the weeds with LED headlamps but..... Me personally avoid riding at night but when i do I stick to the slab. I've got LED headlamps in a a few of my bikes and I think they are more visible in day light than incandescents.

I have just upgraded my Royal Enfield and Low Flying Brick to LED headlights and auxiliaries and they are just brilliant (pun intended). Lots of light and a sharp cutoff for low beam. There is an addendum to this: they all came from Philips Automotive BV, they were all bloody expensive (between £17.50 and £25 per bulb, depending on the fitment) and they are all EU and UK DoT approved for retro-fitment to existing approved headlights. So no cheapy Chinese pushing out photons in completely the wrong directions and not having enough forced cooling in them.

There was a downside to doing this: the Philips bulbs are equipped with a decent-sized fan behing the fitting ring. The Enfield wasn't a problem as there was enough room in the headlight casquette to accomodate it. I'm not sure if they will fit a faired K100 (RS, RT) because the fork legs pass very close to the OEM headlight but I'll check when I offer up the fairing to Kostenlot. LFB has a non-standard twin headlight setup that sits further forward. As for the auxiliary lights on LFB: I pretty much ended up remanufacturing the light bodies to accomodate the extra length required by the fan. Well worth it though.

[Edit] You can't fit Philips or Osram EU/UK approved LED bulbs into the standard K75/K100 headlights. The mounting ring won't fit over the fan.

caveman wrote:... Me personally avoid riding at night but when i do I stick to the slab. 

After my crash last year on the F650 GSD, I decided I would not ride at night anymore unless absolutely necessary.  

When departing Wagga the other week after following Rick to the hospital I made plans to reach Guyra from there (850km).  The plan meant the last hour or so was in darkness which left me a little uneasy.  After Waz's post today about hitting the Kangaroo in daylight returning from the the K40th, if that had occurred at night then my chances of survivability would be a lot less.  I know a couple of people that have survived kangaroo or emu versus motorcycle and one is still recovering.  

About twenty years ago whilst driving around Botswana I was warned in no uncertain terms about not driving at night unless I had big driving lights fitted above the cabin, not just headlights.  Being a hire car it did not.  The reason being that the Even-Toed Ungulates (mainly Kudu) were smart enough to jump over the lights of a vehicle but only just.  The moral of the story being, if they jump over headlights they will land in the cabin and that can be fatal.

Apologies to TWB for the thread drift 

I got away from Corrales NM yesterday morning at dawn. The air was cool (8°c) and clear, but warmed by late morning. I could see several hot air balloons slowly wafting their way across the wide valley that is the Rio Grande where Albuquerque & Rio Rancho spread out for miles. The Sandia mountains to the east help with giving the balloons loft in the mornings. The annual balloon fiesta, which attracts many thousands, was once considered the most photographed event (when Kodak sponsored it) in the world. Who verifies these claims?

My route was a quick 75 miles or so west on I-40 with its 75mph speed limit with cars going 80-plus.
I got off at Grants, topped off, then headed south through El Malpais (The Badlands), a massive lava flow from many thousands of years ago, while humans were already in the area. What a shock to wake up and see the lean-to on fire.

Heading south towards Quemado ('burnt place') and the east-west route of highway 60, younger brother to Route 66?

A still-in-use Catholic church in Quemado, obviously built when the average height was shorter than today. No need for lofty spires pointing toward the heavens. Just keep all that gahd-energy in the room right above their heads.

Not terribly far down the endless road from Quemado (kay-ma-dough) is the border between blue and red.

Stopping to relieve myself behind a piñon pine at the back of a gravel rest area, I nearly tripped over someone's left behind toy. Some grumbly trucker is mad that his driving partner lost his favourite haemorrhoid itcher, perhaps. Or the young couple in the midst of a tryst, had to bail quickly due to the lights of a patrol car swinging across their hidden love spot late at night. The dehydrated mind imagines all manner of dark silliness. I'll simply call it 'Arizona roadside distractions'. Moving on.

Heading toward lovely little Mormon-like, tidy Springerville, the land is more undulating, with low mountains covered in juniper and piñon. The earth becomes redder, the creek ('crick' round these here parts) beds drier, and a gallon of gasolina become $1.00 more expensive.

We have ridden highway 60 due west for many miles from Springerville to Show Low. Musta been a cowboy movie made round that name, like Shootout at Show Low, or High Noon at Show Low, perhaps. We're now making our way down into the lovely, twisting and winding, made for motorbikes, if only the cars weren't in the way, Salt Creek Canyon (remember, it's crick, rhymes with salt lick). We've pased through towns with names like Globe, and Superior, legit, given those names when they were settled in like 1876. Our altitude has fluctuated from 5,200' at dawn to 7,500' at noon, down to 4,000' mid-arvo. Our stop for the night in Mesa, Arizona, sees us settling into the vast valley of sprawling Phoenix at under 2,000'. Arriving about 4PM the temp was 37° on my thermometre as I hurtled along at 85mph on a six lane (in my direction) freeway towards my motel room, being overtaken by cars going 95. I translated that temp to 98.6 in them thar Fahrenheits. Isn't that close to a fever!?

Stopped for two nights, north of the sprawl of Phoenix, at the home of the last remaining Thackwray (originally from Leeds) of her generation, my father's cousin, my 2nd cousin, once removed. She has all of her faculties, still drives, gets up and moves around, enjoys the love of her seven children and multiple grands and great grands, and can talk underwater. I wouldn't mind most of those abilities at 93!

It was 37° (c) the day I arrived, 38° (100.4) yesterday. Fer cryin' out loud it's late October!

Today I begin my ride north. Plans changed for visiting my daughter in SoCal, so with a favourable weather window open, I'm riding up the east side of the Sierras again. This means Las Vegas, Pahrump, Death Valley - must check if roads are fully open after last month's floods - then up into the Panamint Range, Bishop, the Reno area, Susanville, Shasta - or Klamath Falls, Oregon - then I-5 to home. It's about 1,350 miles, but two longish days, bookended by riding in the dark...

I have thoroughly enjoyed this ride. I've met many kind folks, had lotsa laughs and smiles, a few tears, and reconnected with family and friends. 

Two, perhaps three more open road-seeking days to go.

And don't forget Boudreau(s) TWB- lol.  I've enjoyed your ride as well.  I'm sure there is a lot of beauty between you and home even though you are down to the last days of your ride.

I managed Phoenix to Hawthorne, Nevada today, 8AM till 5PM as the sun dropped behind the range to the west. I was going for another hundred miles but didn't want to be out after dark. Too many deer and antelope playing. Tomorrow's ride will be the long one of the trip at 790 miles to my door. I know it will be dark the last few hours but at that point I'll be on familiar territory of I-5 through Oregon & Washington.

The weather started out hot in Phoenix, but quickly cooled off as I climbed up to Wickenberg, Kingman & on to Henderson & finally into Las Vegas by noon. The rest of the high speed desert ride - 80mph plus for hours - was uneventful. I do love the silver mountains either side of wide plains, left to right. It's a spectacular place, despite the muted colours.

I'd normally give the city of LV a wide berth but the highways go right through it. Nice highways, generally, with amazing art work on bridges and exits. I imagine there's a healthy tax rate with all that filthy lucre floating about the place. The city of Lost Wages.

I hope to be up and at 'em early. Rain's coming through the region of central Oregon which should be by early arvo, and on through the night. 

The bike continues to impress with its smoothness, ability to reach speed, nimble handling, and lack of any oil use the entire trip - rolled over 6,237 miles and 26 days today. She dropped to 35mpg in steady crosswinds but at 80 to 85mph for 155 miles.

Smashing ride reports TWB. Those are some epic rides! Bravo

Leaving Hawthorne, Nevada in the 6AM darkness, 39°f, heated grips and liner on high, tailing a slow-moving 'semi' behind 150' or so up the range past Walker Lake, seeing the flashing amber signs warning "Bighorn Sheep Crossing".

I had about 790 miles to go to get home. Rains were forecast for central Oregon through Washington state. As the sun rose over Fallon, NV, I calculated the hours needed to get all the way home. It would be 13 hours straight riding time. It would be wet. I only have a dark tint Arai visor with me.

I went for it.


Above Susanville, California. 

After 15 hours all up with stops, 799.3 miles, a 53.2 mph avg, from 6AM 'til 8:50PM, I pulled the bike into the dry garage. Some of my essential rain gear had failed its last test ride. I have new gear, but am miserly generally, and wanted to see how far I could stretch it. My 18 year old Atlantis Gore-tex gloves, and 10 or 12 year old BMW Comfortshell jacket, are now museum pieces. 

Near Oakridge, Oregon as the rain began to fall.

The rain bugs began to hit my visor and windscreen on highway 58 between Chemult and Eugene, Oregon. I had five hard hours to ride. It was about 4PM. Rain fell steadily up the Willamette valley, into Portland's rush hour, over the bridge into Vancouver, Washington, then further for the 145 mile familiar run home along I-5. It's a bloody good thing it's familiar, I felt my way home, because I couldn't see, such was the roadspray from trucks! 

The garage door rose and I pulled in, teeth chattering, hands purple from the cold. I stripped off the wet gear, draped it over the furniture in front of the now-roaring woodstove fire, had an extra long hot shower, managed a bit of late night dinner, then slept from 11 o'clock thru to 9 o'clock. Drained. 

We do love a good ride, weather be damned!

Stats: 27 days (276 miles avg per day), 7,230.7 miles (11,637 km), 42 mpg average, 18 states, 3 new riding mates, no oil added, one set of tyres.

Three days home. Ten hour sleeps each night. The shoulder ache is diminishing. It's taken that long to be rid of the dark passenger who rode with me when I touched 144mph on an empty road in Colorado, overtook every slow car going up twisting Cameron Pass, guided me to split lanes in traffic-bogged Houston & Phoenix, and urged my cold, wet bones for the last three hours towards home in frigid rain.

It was over 100°f in Arizona on Sunday. It was barely 25°f (- freakin' 3 c) last night here and only going up to 51°f this arvo.

I warm myself with plans for a mid-winter escape.

Dai wrote:......
[Edit] You can't fit Philips or Osram EU/UK approved LED bulbs into the standard K75/K100 headlights. The mounting ring won't fit over the fan.

If you mean non K1/RS/RT/LT by standard, then IDK, but they fit the faired versions with square headlight

You remove the round plate with the three tabs from the LED bulb, install the plate into the lamp wit h the mounting ring, then you install the LED bulb into the bajonet socket in the plate.

Pictures of the light from a K1100 LT in this thread (not mine, I haven't ordred the Osram H4 LED's yet.

Osram have had them tested and approved spicifically for the square RS/RT/LT headlight

https://www.flyingbrick.de/2021/forum/index.php?thread/55048-einbau-osram-h4-led/&postID=1299984#post1299984
Pictures of the installation in this exact post: https://www.flyingbrick.de/2021/forum/index.php?thread/55048-einbau-osram-h4-led/&postID=1298955#post1298955

Of course - I forgot about removing the ring. For anyone else's info - the Philips bulbs are modular in that there are only two body types (single and dual filament) but many different rings to match each of the H numbers (H1, H3, H7 etc.).

Meanwhile, I just ordered a pair of Osrams from German Amazon - €115 including shipping

Now that I've received the 50w/10 ohm resistor for making the DRL portion operate properly, the Chinese-built LED headlamp is on and functioning. Against the garage door at night from 35' it's got quite a high beam spread & lowbeam focus. I have not yet ridden it down my favourite tunnel of overhead trees on the darkest night as we are currently going through "The wettest November in 79 years."

Speaking of rainy days and rainy nights, one's imagination runs. So I ordered from Germany the LSL 28mm superbike fat handlebar kit and machined top bracket (triple clamp, but not) - with an approximately 30mm longer throttle cable from a 'K12S' model - and have fit it. The grips are 70mm higher/closer than the flatter stock position. I had been using an almost 30mm higher than stock HeliBar kit but found myself not able to easily sit on the widest, potentially cushest portion of the seat without excessive lean forward. Now I can rest easier, with my nungas well-protected by space 'tween them and the back of the tank.

I've temporarily fit the tiniest of my three windscreen options for fit and feel. This one's really only a cover for the back of the gauges. I reckon these 'bars will go well with the stock 'Batman' windscreen for running about, but work best over the road with the tall, tinted 'dork' screen I toured with last month.

I look forward to a dry run as soon as the rain subsides.

I'm digging playing with motorbikes all day.

Two Wheels Better wrote:The weather started out hot in Phoenix, but quickly cooled off as I climbed up to Wickenberg, Kingman & on to Henderson & finally into Las Vegas by noon.

I meant to comment that I've actually done that route but starting from Flagstaff rather than Phoenix. The difference was that we (wifey and I) were sat in the front seats of a brand-new Greyhound that had a huge wraparound windscreen. Spectacular views indeed!

Dai wrote:

Two Wheels Better wrote:The weather started out hot in Phoenix, but quickly cooled off as I climbed up to Wickenberg, Kingman & on to Henderson & finally into Las Vegas by noon.

I meant to comment that I've actually done that route but starting from Flagstaff rather than Phoenix. The difference was that we (wifey and I) were sat in the front seats of a brand-new Greyhound that had a huge wraparound windscreen. Spectacular views indeed!

I did that same route, more or less, in 2019 going west to east.  Down from Redding to Reno, Carson City, Death Valley, Kingman, Flagstaff, Rte 66, Santa Fe, and Las Vegas, New Mexico.  Tried to get to the famous "corner in Winslow, Arizona", but they were having a big RV show that day and the entire downtown was closed off to traffic and I couldn't find a parking spot within 4 blocks of the statues.

The LSL phat 'bar kit is on, and I took the first ride yesterday of 20 miles, mixed highway and urban. 

The initial feeling was of confidence, upright ergos,  bum further back on wide (soft) part of seat, easy turn-in from the significantly increased leverage, the leg to arm to seat ratio very nice. My wrists, tho', are at an odd, outward angle compared to the more relaxed, lean forward and flatter stock arrangement. I will have to 'roll' these tubular 'bars back or forward in increments to find a sweet spot.

Aside from some needed tweeks, the overall riding impression was a good one. 

Now to sort out which 'screen I'll use.

After a 35 mile, sunny arvo ride today on Sad Sack, with a few minor tweaks, I'm finally comfortable with the ergos. It's a new-feeling bike.

Out for a burble yesterdee before the rains came in. Here at a working replica of the British Hudson's Bay Company fort, at Point Defiance, near the Tacoma Narrows.

Steilacoom, Washington (Stil-a-cum). Sea captain Edwin R Rogers' house (s'posed to be haunted), faces northwards to Chambers Bay of the Puget Sound, and was built in 1891. It reached about 11C/low 50s, perfect for kitting up and exploring some minor roads in the area.

What a mild winter so far, average temps are higher, rainfall up, but we're not drowning yet. But it won't last long. By late week the temps will top out below freezing. Snow is forecast in the lowlands of
Western Washington, mere inches, but with mountain snow measured in feet of depth. One weather reporter said 51" is due in the Cascades. 
I've been able to get rides in between the raindrops. I rode on the 31st, again on the 1st, and now today, on greasy, moss-covered tarmac. My 'bar mounted analogue thermometre hovered between 46 & 52° F. I spied some 'blue clouds' amongst the grey layer. Time to head back home before that grey opens up again.

I consider 10-11 degC to be about comfortable for riding but unfortunately and unusually, it's been well below that here for the last three or so weeks. Consequently I've only been out once in that time.

The local Washington state beemer club has an annual ride down to Manzanita, Oregon. It's a smallish tourist town just south of the more popular, and hence, more crowded, town of Cannon Beach. I like the varied routes down and back, but am not drawn to group rides, nor to hanging in a motel at day's end, even with the proximity to the grassy dunes and crashing waves. So I sometimes make an effort to head that way. This year it lived up to its name of a rain run. The sun also brilliantly shone in patches.

The town of Longview, WA, and its busy port for lumber shipments, viewed across the Lewis & Clark bridge from the Oregon side of the mighty Columbia River. On a clearer day one can see the collapsed but snow-covered peak of infamous Mt St Helens, which lost about 4,000' of its original 12,000' when it blew in spring of 1980.

I managed to work out a route which took me parallel to or across the main I-5 corridor from south of Tacoma to the big river, on bendy, twisting roads, through sparsely populated, rural towns like Boistfort and Vader. Usually, I roll onto the open ferry near Cathlamet, WA that is an easy island hop of 12 minutes to the other side at Westport, OR. The orange signs at Cathlamet warned of ferry repair, so I doubled back to Longview to cross. 

I followed OR Hwy 30 due west to Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia. Venturing up into the Oregon hills brings you to tiny towns on roads resembling logging tracks, but sealed, through pine forests and stands of towering, moss-covered oaks. Here, a cruise ship lies at anchor in the harbour at Astoria. Heavy rain continued unabated. My gear held up. I brought out a BMW Tourshell jacket I'd bought on close-out four or so years ago. It proved its worth, being both warm and waterproof. My old Sidi OnRoad boots, ProSummer gloves and Aerostich AD-1 trousers kept the rest of me dry, too.

At Astoria, I rode across the 3-1/2 mile long Astoria-Megler bridge to Dismal Nitch, WA, so named by the Lewis & Clark expedition of 1804-06 due to them being stranded there for a few weeks by strong wind, tides & exposure in their canoes. I felt the pressure of such inbound Pacific winds between Oregon and Washington. My night's destination was Skamokawa, where a newly-renovated Duck Inn serves up hearty portions of seafood and adult beverages in a crowded saloon and restaurant.


Twin Gables Inn in Skamokawa provides a quiet room, with a comfortable bed and a very hearty homemade brekky for soggy travellers - they had Yorkshire Gold black tea, too. The owner is a Canadian. I suspect they would prefer Audis and Subarus in their gravel lot over wet motorbikes out front of their white pickets but green is green in a wet season.

After two full riding days it became apparent that sun would not win against grey cloud so I picked a road I'd never ridden, WA 407 between Cathlamet and Longview, basically paralleling riverside Hwy 4, then up through Longview Heights, avoiding downtown traffic, then the familiar Westside Highway (506?) to Napavine, before crossing I-5 at Chehalis/Centralia and going north through Bucoda, Yelm and Roy towards home.

The bike didn't miss a beat, didn't use oil, but rewarded my heavy throttle hand with only 39 mpg/US. It kept my arse coddled after I'd reskinned the slippery-slidy original seat with a more grippy cover, along with an Italian WRS tinted touring windscreen, and the more upright LSL handlebar kit I fit over winter. This particular moto is fast becoming my solo ride moto of choice.

I'm enjoying a hot cuppa tea and a cold apple fritter at the Pioneer Coffee shop in Cle Elum, Washington, on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, a two hour ride from home. It was cold on sub-4,000 foot Snoqualmie Pass, where the crusty snow still lays. The surrounding hills and rocky peaks are wearing a fresh coat of snow. I wished for the heated gear, the heated grips came in handy (pardon the pun), but it's very sunny everywhere and warming up.  I had a day window for a ride between rainy days, so I took it.




Who can resist checking out a road called Gobblers Knob!?

My intention is to travel old highway 10, which parallels Interstate 90, but bends and winds along a river course, through canyons, and next to a working railway,  the occasional ranch dropped into the scenery here and there. At Ellensburg I'll drop into Yakima Canyon toward Selah and Natches. Follow along in real time, as wifi, time and interest allow.

Highway 10 was closed for roadworks, so the alternates of 970 & 97 to Ellensburg did the job. The wind came up with the altitude, but the sunshine remained. I dropped down through Yakima Cañon to Selah, over the back roads to Naches, then east on 410 to White Pass - 4,500'. The snow is new in the surrounding hills here, too, but the roads are clear. It has dropped considerably in temp, commensurate with the height increase above sea level. Whoever believed old Icarus melted his waxed wings as he flew higher!?








After a hot chocolate & cashews, it's time to head west on hwy 12 to Packwood, Randle & Morton. Skate Creek Road is still closed for the season. I left at 8:30 this morning. It's quarter past three. I should be home by a quarter to six.

I did arrive home that arvo before six o'clock, having covered a leisurely 340 miles in those 10 hours of on and off riding. The valley from Packwood, through to Randle, then on to Morton on highway 12, and halfway up the hill on hwy 7 to Elbe, the weather took a serious turn to the darkside. No other area of the state of Washington had precipitation except there. It was pouring with rain and the temperature dropped very rapidly. I fueled the bike, put my head down and rode on until the skies cleared again, all the way, that last hour and a half. Despite its ferocity, and the fact I was headed due west, directly into the teeth of the beautiful storm, no water ingression took place on my 'new' jacket, or in my helmet, gloves, boots and riding trousers. 

As well as the sun parting the clouds, a warming drink and then dinner welkomed me home.